On December 8, Renata Hesse, co-head of S&C’s Antitrust Group, participated in a discussion on “Navigating The New Antitrust Landscape” presented by the Rock Center for Corporate Governance, a joint initiative of Stanford Law School and Stanford Graduate School of Business.
The panelists explored modern antitrust challenges that companies face, including the latest developments in merger clearance. They evaluated current antitrust efforts and priorities and discussed what has changed since the confirmation of Lina Khan as Chair of the Federal Trade Commission and Jonathan Kanter as Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, as well as what to expect going forward.
Renata discussed factors that make the antitrust environment feel different under the Biden administration, including its aggressive messaging on M&A activity. She said she anticipates additional government activity around vertical mergers, conglomerate effects of mergers and criminalization of Section 2 of the Sherman Act.
The other panelists were Doug Melamed, Scholar-in-Residence, Stanford Law School; Mike Wyatt, Managing Director and Head of Global Technology M&A, Morgan Stanley; and Diana Moss, President, American Antitrust Institute.
Renata Hesse is Co-Head of S&C’s Antitrust Group and her practice focuses on antitrust counseling, cartels and merger clearance with a particular emphasis on the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property matters in high-tech industries. Renata is frequently recognized as a leading and influential antitrust lawyer, and has been involved in some of the most high stakes matters in the antitrust arena over the past two decades. Recognized for her thought leadership, Renata provides clients with strategic advice across the full range of civil antitrust matters, including in complex regulatory investigations and in litigation. In 2022, she was named a Global Elite Thought Leader in Competition by Who’s Who Legal.